Ehhh, some good movies don't really have plots and are more situational?, can't think of the word. Apollo 13 comes to mind as something like that.
Really? You didn't like 2001? It did have a story sort of, mysterious object shaped and instigated the development of intelligence of apes, then stuff. Then the pretty realistic depiction of space maneuvers, like how you have to dock with other satellites (you have to align to their rotation and just lots of automation involved). Another similar object found on the moon. Guided them to Jupiter or something. It's been a while since I've watched it. Hal was a great and iconic villain. Only bad thing was the psychedelic acid trip towards the end of the movie.